Q3 federal estimated tax
Covers income earned June through August. Underpayment interest is currently 7%, so skipping it is not free.
S-Corp & Business Tax · NY & NJ
Your S-corp reasonable salary is either defensible or it's a problem
Pay yourself too little and the IRS can recharacterize your distributions; pay yourself too much and you hand back the entire reason you elected S-corp. We help you find the number you can actually defend, and document why.
- September 15, 2026: Q3 estimates, extended 1120-S, NY PTET and NJ BAIT all fall due
- Form 2553 for a January 1, 2027 election is open now
- Monthly plans published openly at $99, $349 and $499
- Fully virtual: secure portal, all 50 states, or walk into an office
Free 15-minute review
Tell us how the business is set up
100%
Remote if you want it
50 states
Secure virtual service
4.9★
1,000+ client reviews
4 offices
If you prefer in person
The New York trap
A federal S-corp election does not make you a New York S corporation
This catches more New York business owners than anything else we see. You file Form 2553 with the IRS, the election is accepted, and you assume you are done. New York requires a separate election on Form CT-6. Without it, New York taxes your company as a C corporation, while your shareholders still receive K-1s and pay personal tax on the same income.
It is the worst of both worlds, and most owners only discover it when a notice arrives. If your election was filed through an online formation service, there is a meaningful chance the state election was never made.
Worth checking today
If you have an accepted federal S election and cannot remember filing a CT-6, tell us. Confirming it takes minutes.
What a defensible number looks like
What a reasonable S-corp salary actually means, and why the documentation matters
There is no formula in the tax code. A reasonable salary is what you would have to pay someone else to do what you do, given your industry, region, hours and duties.
The stakes run in both directions. Pay yourself too little and the IRS can recharacterize your distributions. Pay yourself too much and you hand back the entire reason you elected S-corp status in the first place.
The defensible version is a documented figure supported by comparable data, not a guess and not a percentage borrowed from someone else's business. That documentation is what protects you if anyone asks.
The number matters, but being able to show how you arrived at it matters just as much. A figure supported by real comparables is the version that stands up under questioning.
The honest version
Sometimes an S-corp costs you money in New York City, and we will say so
New York City does not recognize S corporations. City-based S-corps pay the 8.85% General Corporation Tax, while an unincorporated business pays 4% UBT with a credit that eliminates it entirely below a modest threshold. For some NYC owners, electing S-corp status is a net loss once payroll costs and city tax are counted.
The national platforms advertising 'save $10,000 with an S-corp' do not run this calculation for you. We do it before you elect, and we tell you when the answer is no.
The S-corp election generally starts to make sense above a certain level of profit, but the exact point depends on your salary, your city, your state and your benefits. It is a calculation, not a rule of thumb.
September 15, 2026
Four business tax deadlines land on the same day
Extended 1120-S and 1065
If your S-corp or partnership return went on extension in March, this is the final date. Late-filing penalties accrue per shareholder or partner, per month.
New York PTET
Q3 estimated payment for the pass-through entity tax. The annual election itself has no late relief: it must be made by March 15.
New Jersey BAIT
Q3 estimated payment for the Business Alternative Income Tax. Same principle, different state, same day.
No payroll yet this year?
Catch-up S-corp payroll before December 31: there is still time, but it narrows every week
If you elected S-corp status and have taken distributions all year without running payroll, that needs correcting before December 31. Reasonable compensation has to be paid as actual W-2 wages within the calendar year, and it cannot be created retroactively in April.
- Catch-up payroll run and documented before year end
- A reasonable compensation figure supported by real comparables, not a guess
- Late S-corp election relief where the election itself was missed
- Quarterly filings and W-2s brought current
The December 31 line is hard
Wages missed inside the calendar year cannot be added back once it closes. Every week you wait makes the catch-up payroll larger and the cash flow harder.
Formed through an online service?
What online formation packages routinely leave undone for S-corp owners
The gaps we find in a first review are rarely exotic. They are the steps that sit just outside what a formation package actually covers.
- The New York CT-6 election, which is what makes you a New York S corporation rather than a company New York still taxes as a C corporation
- Payroll registration with the state, without which you cannot run the W-2 wages your reasonable compensation has to be paid as
- The EIN responsible-party details, which are sometimes recorded incorrectly at formation
- A reasonable compensation figure, because no formation package runs that calculation for you
The free 15-minute review
What the free S-corp salary and election review covers, step by step
- 1
Tell us how the business is set up
Entity type, whether you are running payroll for yourself, and roughly what the business will net this year. That is enough for us to see where the exposure sits.
- 2
We check which elections are actually on file
Whether the federal Form 2553 election was accepted, and whether the New York CT-6 election was ever made. Confirming both takes minutes, and it is the single most common gap we find.
- 3
You get a salary figure and a plan for what happens next
Your reasonable compensation figure, whether the state election is in place, and what needs to happen before September 15. We tell you what your situation needs, and what it costs, before any work begins.
No cost, no obligation, and a real person replies within one business day.
What it costs
Published monthly pricing for S-corp bookkeeping, payroll and returns
No sales call required to see it.
Essential
$99
per month
Gold
$349
per month
Platinum
$499
per month
Platinum includes business return preparation, state returns, the owner's personal return and 1099 issuance. One-off work such as a reasonable compensation review or a late S-corp election is quoted as a fixed fee before we start.
You never have to leave your home
The whole thing works online, securely, from anywhere
Most of our business clients never come to an office: bookkeeping, payroll, elections and returns all run through an encrypted client portal, with video or phone check-ins whenever you need them.
A secure client portal
Upload documents through an encrypted portal built for the job. Nothing sensitive travels by email, and everything stays in one place you can log back into.
Video or phone, when it suits you
Meet your preparer by video call or phone. No travel, no waiting room, and no taking a morning off work.
Electronic signatures
Review your return and sign authorizations electronically. Nothing needs printing, scanning, or mailing.
All 50 states, and abroad
We file in every state and work with clients living outside the United States. A different time zone is not a problem; we schedule around yours.
Prefer to sit across a desk from someone?
You can. Four walk-in offices: Bronx, Jamaica Queens, Buffalo, and Totowa NJ. Virtual is the default because it is faster for most people, not because it is the only option.
Questions people actually ask
Straight answers
What counts as a reasonable S-corp salary, actually?
There is no formula in the tax code. A reasonable salary is what you would have to pay someone else to do what you do, given your industry, region, hours and duties. The defensible version is a documented figure supported by comparable data, and that documentation is what protects you if anyone asks.Does a federal S-corp election make my company a New York S corporation?
No. New York requires a separate election on Form CT-6 in addition to the accepted federal Form 2553. Without the CT-6, New York taxes your company as a C corporation while your shareholders still receive K-1s and pay personal tax on the same income. If your election was filed through an online formation service, there is a meaningful chance the state election was never made.Can I still elect S-corp status for this year?
The standard deadline for a current-year election was March 15. Late election relief exists under Revenue Procedure 2013-30 where there is reasonable cause for the delay. Separately, an election effective January 1, 2027 can be filed now, and filing early avoids the March crush entirely.I formed my LLC through an online service. Is anything missing?
Frequently, yes. The most common gaps are the state-level election (CT-6 in New York), payroll registration, and sometimes the EIN responsible-party details. Any one of them can leave the business taxed in a way you did not intend, so it is worth a short review before the next filing deadline.Is an S-corp election always worth it in New York City?
No, and we will tell you when it is not. New York City does not recognize S corporations, so city-based S-corps pay the 8.85% General Corporation Tax, while an unincorporated business pays 4% UBT with a credit that eliminates it entirely below a modest threshold. For some NYC owners, electing S-corp status is a net loss once payroll costs and city tax are counted, which is why we run the calculation before you elect.Do you handle the bookkeeping and payroll too?
Yes. Catch-up bookkeeping, QuickBooks clean-up, payroll and 1099s all sit inside the monthly plans, which is usually cheaper than buying them separately. Plans are published at $99, $349 and $499 per month, and one-off work such as a reasonable compensation review or a late S-corp election is quoted as a fixed fee before we start.
Related services
Where this connects to the rest of the practice
Business Tax Services
Year-round entity returns, payroll filings and owner personal returns handled by one team, so the S-corp and the shareholder never fall out of step.
Bookkeeping
Catch-up bookkeeping and QuickBooks clean-up that give your reasonable compensation figure a set of books it can actually be defended against.
Business Tax Planning
The forward-looking version of this work: PTET and BAIT elections, salary and distribution mix, and the calculation of whether an S-corp is worth it at all.
Get the number you can defend
A free 15-minute review covers your salary figure, whether your state election is actually in place, and what needs to happen before September 15.
Fees are quoted in writing before any work begins. Reasonable compensation has no formula in the tax code, and the right figure depends on your industry, region, hours and duties. Nothing on this page is tax advice for your specific situation, and outcomes depend on facts we would need to review with you.